First minted in 1793, the United States large cent was worth the amount of the modern U.S. penny. All large cents were made purely of copper (or as pure as they could get!). The large cent was coined every year until 1857, except for one year, 1815, in which there was a copper shortage!

All large cents were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, America' s first mint. These large cents contained twice the copper of the half cent, making them larger than todays Quarters!